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The search is on...Rivera, Whiz, & Grimm to be interviewed

Team president Art Rooney II talks about the process of finding a new head coach for the Steelers and the thinking behind it.

ART ROONEY II

Good afternoon again. Weíll begin our search for a head coach immediately. Our only goal is to find the best person for the job. The timetable will simply relate to when we feel we have reached that goal. We will identify candidates only after weíve completed an interview, and only if that candidate wishes to be identified. The only exception to that at this point is I do want to confirm we have informed both Russ Grimm and Ken Whisenhunt that they are candidates and will be interviewed.

Could you go over the rules of who youíre allowed to talk to this week?

Itís kind of a strange rule, but weíre only permitted to interview, of the teams that are in the playoffs, weíre allowed to interview the teams that have a bye week this week. The teams that donít have the bye this week, we would be allowed to interview their coaches next week. We will be a little bit limited by that with some of the interviews.

Even if that team wins this week and plays next week too?

Yes. If the team wins and has a game next week, weíre permitted to interview their people.

Are Russ and Ken the only members of your staff who are candidates?

Yes. At this time, yes.

How many are you looking at?

I canít give you a specific number. Weíre still in the process of forming the list and investigating people that weíd like to have on the list, so itíll be an ongoing process.

Will you start this weekend?

Yes.

Will you bring everybody here?

No, the candidates whose teams are in the playoffs, we have to go to their city to do the interview, so weíll be traveling to those cities.

Will you be doing that yourself?

Thereíll be three people involved in the interviews: myself, my father, and Kevin. Whether weíre involved in every interview, Iím not sure about that, but thatís sort of our interview committee.

Do you have to keep an eye on other teamsí openings?

We do. Weíll be aware of whatís going on with these other openings, yes.

A lot has changed over time. But is it the same type of process?

No, I would say fundamentally itís a similar process to what weíve had in the past. The two biggest things weíll rely on are interviews, number one, and, number two, information and recommendations we can get from other people in the league who we respect their opinion. Thatís what weíve done in the past. Thatís the way it will be done this time.

How important is continuity, for instance with the 3-4 defense?

I think weíll be aware of the team we have, the roster we have, as we go into this, not that this will put absolute restrictions on anything, but itís certainly something to take into account. I would say overall weíve had an approach to the game of football that I think has been fairly consistent going back to Coach Noll. So I think that looking for people who we feel fit with the organization and the approach weíve had to football, I think those kinds of things will be factored in.

Will you look at college coaches?

Weíre not eliminating anybody based on college. I think that NFL experience is certainly a criterion, but we havenít eliminated college coaches per se.

Your forefathers have a bit of a tradition here in hiring coaches. Do you feel any pressure to live up to that tradition?

The only pressure I feel, and I think we all feel, is just to find the best coach we can find for this organization at this point in time. Itís probably no different than any other time weíve had to go through this.

We may not be aware of the candidate you might be most impressed with.

That could be true, yes.

I mean, no oneís eliminated is I guess the question Iím asking. And you will interview candidates other people wouldnít.

Thatís right. Weíre not trying to identify someone whoís a household name obviously. There are a lot of good coaches in the National Football League and weíll try and find the ones that we think itís their time and a good fit for our organization.

After Bill sits out the year, and comes back to coach again, would you seek compensation?

No, not after 2007.

How much does the next coach have to have an appreciation for how this organization operates?

Some appreciation and just a general fit with the organization is important. We may talk to people who arenít that familiar with the organization, so itís not incumbent on them to have an appreciation in the sense of knowledge of the organization, but I think someone who letís say shares similar philosophies to the approach to the game of football, I think those kinds of things are important.

Do Whisenhunt and Grimm have an advantage because they know all that, they know your players, have been here, and you also know them?

Certainly I think our existing coaches, and I think the fact that we feel we have a good staff, I think those are things that could be considered positives in their regard.

Will their candidacies in other places change or expedite your process?

At this point I would say no, but that could change. But as I stand here today Iíd say weíve got to go through our process. If something happens that we canít move that quickly then weíd just have to live with that, but I think as time goes on that may become more relevant.

Did Miami get permission to talk to Whisenhunt?

Yes.

How do you identify the guys you might want to talk to? Do you feel you have a knack for it?

Itís hard to say. Weíve only done this a couple times in the last 40 years or so, so itís hard to say we have a knack for it.

Do you guys keep a list of who the hotshot assistants are?

Itís hard to say. Certainly there are some names that everyone talks about. By the same token, there are probably some names that I donít know where they are on other peopleís lists. Itís hard to say other than we will pay attention to our own information first rather that what other people are thinking?

Is NFL experience as a player important at all?

Itís something you look at. I think NFL experience as a coach is more important. NFL experience as a coach with a lot of coaches has proven to be an advantage. Itís just a factor I would say.

When did you start getting a list together?

Letís just say that recently we started to look at some lists.

Are you going to ask Bill Cowher for his thoughts on any of these candidates?

Sure. Weíll ask Bill for some of his thoughts for people he knows around the league.

If Bill moves on and compensation is required, is that something you frown on?

You mean if Bill goes somewhere in 2007? I donít think thatís a factor at this point. Itís not something weíve given any thought to. Certainly Bill does not sound like that where heís going. Thatís not something weíll spend a lot of time thinking about at this point.

Is that compensation up to the teams or would the league work that out?

No, thatís something that is up to the teams as I understand it.

So the Dolphins havenít called?

No.

Youíve had some coaches on your staff here who went on to be head coaches and are now assistants again. Will you look at any of those guys?

I wouldnít necessarily discount somebody who fits that description.

Is there a certain personality profile youíre looking for?

I think that you want a personality who, No. 1 is somebody who can deal with the players and get the playersí attention. Thereís sort of a proven track record in that regard as an important personality trait.

When they hired Coach Noll, what was your involvement with the team and judging by the crowd here today, what does that say about Pittsburgh fans and how they care who coaches this football team?

I was a ballboy when Coach Noll was hired and I did not have a lot of input in the process. I did prepare a list. Things have changed obviously. The attention to NFL football has grown tremendously and things are a little different. On the other side of it, some of the qualities and characteristics that we would have been looking for at the time we hired Chuck and Bill remain things that we would look for today.

Do you remember who was on your list?

They were all college coaches. The only information I had was research on college coaches. Ara Parseghian was probably one.

Bill was fiery at the start and it was pointed out over and over again that had changed over the years. I assume you have a preference?

I donít think Bill changed that much over the years, Iíll start with that. I think Dick Hoak the other day made a comment. He was asked to compare Chuck and Bill and saw that there were differences. He made the comment that there were different ways to get it done. Thatís true. The No. 1 thing the person has to be is they have to be themselves. I think for that person, that will be important.

How much leeway will you give the new coach with assistant coaches? Will he have certain guys that he has to keep?

We donít think you just bring somebody in and say, ĎHereís your assistant coaches.í I think whoever comes in has to have the ability to put their staff together. Obviously, having said that, we think we have good people on this staff and would recommend that they consider people on the staff. The bottom line I think is that the person who comes in has to be able to put their staff together.

Whatís the word on one of your guys going elsewhere? Do they have to get a promotion?

Yes. We would not have to give permission for somebody to make a lateral move, so to speak.

They are all under contract?

They are all under contract, yes.

Does the title assistant head coach come into play about whether a coach is allowed to make that move?

I donít think they are treated differently than a coordinator at this point.

Is there a certain number of minority candidates youíd like to interview?

Not a certain number, but weíre required, as you know, to include at least a minority candidate. I think that somebody said, have things changed? One thing that has changed over the years is the number of quality of minority candidates that are in the pool of candidates has grown. From that standpoint, I think thatís a positive. Itís not difficult to find people who are coordinators with the kind of experience that you want in these positions.

By SteelCityInsider.com
Posted Jan 5, 2007

This is going to be interesting. I'd like to see somebody from the outside come in like Cowher did.

If you donít stand behind our troops.....Please feel free to stand in front of them!!!

"Give me a 6 pack, half hour of rest and lets go play them again....We can beat them."
--Jack Lambert

"They say that when you're the champs, everybody will try to beat you. Well, I'm glad we're the champs, so bring 'em on, bring 'em all on. If we die, we ain't gonna die running. It's gonna be a fight."
--Joe Greene

If they do want to interview any teams in the playoffs, they will be definately limited for a bit, although there are alot of good candidates in house and outside the team that are available now so I don't think we'll be holding out for weeks on end, just to talk to 1 guy because you run the risk of losing alot of good candidates along the way, and you might not end up with that 1 guy after all.

If they do want to interview any teams in the playoffs, they will be definately limited for a bit, although there are alot of good candidates in house and outside the team that are available now so I don't think we'll be holding out for weeks on end, just to talk to 1 guy because you run the risk of losing alot of good candidates along the way, and you might not end up with that 1 guy after all.

Rivera is maybe the best choice, but there are two things to consider: Rivera coming means LeBeau leaving, Rivera coming means a less-cap-friendly 4-3 scheme. Right now the Steelers don't have the right personnel to adjust to a 4-3 defence (I don't see the Rooneys spending big money on a couple of new DTs, given that Hoke isn't good enough to be a starter with Hampton) and that's the reason that could push them to choose an offensive-minded coach, leaving all defence matters in LeBeau's hands.